It is common to drill a well seeking hydrocarbons and to set a permanent packer with a tailpipe hanging from the packer down inside casing. Such an arrangement provides access to natural gas where the formation is under high pressure. High gas productivity provides flow rates that are able to carry liquids to the wellhead and avoid issues of liquid resistance. Also, high gas productivity is often desired for high monetization of the gas from the well and create high cash flow for the owner of the hydrocarbon resource. However, eventually such wells mature and flow rates diminish to the point where the natural flow is unable to carry the liquids out of the well. In these circumstances where gas production is already diminishing, liquids in the well create additional problems by substantially diminishing or restricting gas production. Such wells continue to produce gas in “bubble flow” where it is readily apparent that removing the water column would significantly enhance gas recovery and productivity rates.
While many procedures are known for extending the life and productivity of such wells, eventually such wells are plugged and abandoned because the gas flow is diminished to a trickle. With a permanent packer in place to handle the original high pressures of the well, installing a pump is impractical. Some might consider milling out the permanent packer, but milling requires cooling lubricant that inherently exaggerates the problem of too much liquid at the bottom of the well and permanently choking down the gas flow from the formation.
Some have installed coiled tubing down inside the production tubing where the coiled tubing has a much smaller diameter than the tail pipe. With a smaller diameter, the same gas productivity in the well will flow upwardly through the coiled tubing at a faster rate and keep the liquids entrained with the gas. While this is likely to extend the life of the well, a positive displacement pump will allow for more gas recovery and liquids recovery than even the smallest diameter tube operating in an artificial lift scenario.